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About the Year of Light

The International Year of Light is a global initiative which will highlight to the citizens of the world the importance of light and optical technologies in their lives, for their futures, and for the development of society. It is a unique opportunity to inspire, educate, and connect on a global scale.

Call for entries for IYL 2015 Film Festival at the IYL 2015 Closing Ceremony

The International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 (IYL 2015) will be brought to an official close with a ceremony to be held over three days from 4-6 February 2016 in the city of Mérida, Mexico. As a parallel event of the programme, we are glad to announce the organization of the IYL 2015 Film Festival to showcase videos/documentaries developed to celebrate the IYL 2015. A call for entries is open to select films for the festival.

The art of cinema can show us the true nature of life but it is just an illusion. An illusion, at 24 frames per second, which fools our eyes into sensing motion when light is projected onto a big screen. Over the year, many people worldwide have decided to celebrate light and the IYL 2015’s themes and goals by creating several videos documenting IYL 2015 anniversaries, physics phenomena related to light or just IYL 2015 activities. With this festival we would like to get a glimpse of what have been produced around the world and pay homage to the creators of the videos.

Information about Submission Process

Criteria:

1) Any form: Films of any length. (Shorts and Features)

2) Films that were produced to celebrate the IYL 2015 or that fit the IYL 2015 themes and goals

3) Films that are in English/Spanish or suitably subtitled in English (films originally produced in any languages are welcome).

4) Entries for selection are required to be sent in digital (upload) format.

About IYL 2015

The International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies (IYL 2015) is a global initiative adopted by the United Nations (A/RES/68/221) to raise awareness of how optical technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to worldwide challenges in energy, education, agriculture, communications and health. With UNESCO as lead agency, IYL 2015 programs will promote improved public and political understanding of the central role of light in the modern world while also celebrating noteworthy anniversaries in 2015—from the first studies of optics 1,000 years ago to discoveries in optical communications that power the Internet today. The IYL Global Secretariat is located at the Abdus Salam International Centre of Theoretical Physics (ICTP).

The Founding Partners of IYL 2015 are the American Institute of Physics (AIP), the American Physical Society (APS), the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG), the European Physical Society (EPS), the Abdus Salam International Centre of Theoretical Physics (ICTP), the IEEE Photonics Society (IPS), the Institute of Physics (IOP), Light: Science and Applications, the lightsources.org International Network, 1001 Inventions, The Optical Society (OSA) and the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE).

Patron Sponsors include Bosca, the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), Royal Philips Lighting, Thorlabs and UL.

This website was developed by Lightsources.org, a collaboration between communicators from light source facilities around the world.

IYL2015 is a global initiative adopted by the United Nations to raise awareness of how optical technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to worldwide challenges in energy, education, agriculture, communications and health.